The High Court has rejected claims that a man accused of murdering Christy Daly is being unlawfully detained on a holding charge to stop him fleeing the country.

Ross Allen of Kilmonaghan Lodge, Clara in Co. Offaly is accused of killing the father of six, whose remains were discovered in a drain on January 7th last.

Mr. Allen was charged last February with the murder of Mr. Daly, who gardai believe was killed between Christmas Day and the New Year.

Lawyers for the Mr. Allen (23) say since then, there have been huge delays in preparing the book of evidence against their client who is in custody. He has been remanded on five occasions.

They have challenged the lawfulness of his detention on the ground there was evidence before a District Court sitting earlier this month that Ross Allen was being kept on a holding charge simply to stop him fleeing the jurisdiction.

But dismissing the claim, Mr. Justice Gerard Hogan said he is absolutely certain the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) brought the murder charge in good faith.

He has found any delays in preparing the book of evidence can be explained by the complexity of this 'huge investigation' which involved 60 gardai, 100 hours of CCTV footage and 355 witness statements.

The court was told the book of evidence is likely to be served in the next six weeks.

Ross Allen is to apply for bail in the High Court on Monday.

If he is refused bail, there will be a further inquiry in to the lawfulness of his detention relating to Section 29 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967 which sets down that a person on a murder charge can only be granted bail by the High Court.

His legal team will challenge a District Court judge's authority to remand a person in custody in circumstances where there is no power to grant bail.